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< all recipes Fudgy Brownies There are countless ways to make a brownie and not everyone is in the fudgy brownie camp. I have to admit I judge those people just a little bit. Ok, maybe a lot. So when a certain husband revealed his preference for chewy brownies AND the corner piece, I questioned whether our marriage could survive such absurdity. I just can't understand what could be better than dense, moist, super dark chocolatey goodness with a bit of a crackle crust on top. Swirl some peanut butter in there and game over. Take this to another level by swirling in some creamy or chunky peanut butter. Yum. Fudgy Brownies Serves: 16 brownies Ingredients 10 oz (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 cup flour 1 cup coco powder 1/2 tsp kosher salt 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup chocolate chips (your choice of milk, dark, etc) 3/4 cup peanut butter (optional) Print Preparation Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8x8 pan and line with parchment so that some hangs over the sides (for easy removal later). Melt butter. Combine flour, coco powder and salt in a bowl and whisk in melted butter. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar then whisk in butter/flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan. If adding peanut butter: warm peanut butter slightly so that it is runny. pour evenly over batter and swirl with a knife or offset spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the center is set and the edges are starting to pull away from the sides. Let cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Coq Au Vin I love this dish because everything about it, from the fancy French name to the delicious depth of flavor, is impressive and makes your guests think you are a chef extraordinaire. And it is a perfect dish for a freezing winter day. I would serve it with creamy mashed potatoes or simple crusty bread to soak up all that delicious vino. Coq Au Vin Serves: 6-8 servings Ingredients 2 tbl butter 1 chicken, cut up into 8 pieces and brined 3 lg carrots, peeled and chopped into ¼ inch cubes 8 oz mushrooms (any kind you like), cleaned and sliced 1 lb pearl onions, peeled – frozen are best as they come peeled 1 tbl fresh thyme 2 tbl tomato paste 3 tbl flour 1 bottle red wine (something you would drink) Print Preparation Heat butter in a large pot. Remove chicken from brine and dry well. Brown, skin side down, lower heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Flip chicken to brown slightly on other side (5 minutes). Remove the chicken – place on something that will catch juices. Sauté carrots and mushrooms until mushrooms have released their moisture, about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while cooking. Add the pearl onions. Stir in tomato paste and thyme. Sprinkle in the flour, stir, and put the chicken back in the pot(along with juices). Pour in the red wine – just enough to cover 3/4 of the chicken. Cook for 45 minutes. Serve warm over mashed potatoes or with some crusty sourdough bread. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Corn & Tomato Panzanella It is 4:04am, only 56 minutes before my alarm will go off because I am back at my old diggs for the summer baking at Levain out in Wainscott (come visit!). It is a great reminder of just how brutal this biz is on the body and its somewhat souring effect on my usually super chipper attitude. On a beautiful summer day, especially after work, the last thing anyone wants to do is stand in front of a hot stove or slave over a million ingredients. Luckily the summer’s bountiful produce requires little to no effort to prep and that is pretty much what this panzanella recipe is all about. Corn & Tomato Panzanella Serves: 4-6 side servings Ingredients 3-4 cups of bread, cubed 1 cup olive oil 4 tbl unsalted butter 3 cloves garlic 1 bunch fresh thyme (a handful or so) 2 tbl dijon mustard ¼ cup white wine vinegar 6 ears of corn, cut off the cob 2 cups tomatoes (1 pint of cherries or a few larger ones) 4 cups greens (any kind you like really) salt and pepper (lots of it) Print Preparation Heat olive oil, butter, garlic and thyme in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted and the garlic and thyme start to smell fragrant. Turn off the heat and let steep while you prepare the other ingredients (or longer - if longer than 1 hour put into the fridge). Strain before using. Heat the oven to 400˚F. If the bread is pretty stale give it a good spritz (or even douse) in water then toss in ⅓ - ½ cup of the infused oil. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast for about 20 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Set aside. Make dressing: Whisk mustard and vinegar together then slowly whisk in the infused olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss corn, tomatoes and greens in dressing (using as little or as much as you would like) then add the toasty croutons. Season generously with salt and pepper. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Muhammara I made this for my monthly potluck dinner with a group of girls from high school - well actually most of us went kindergarten through 12th grade together. In a class of 40 girls. Yes ALL girls. And yes we still like each other! We rotate apartments (I am planning on hosting the next one, once I get a real table and something other than plastic folding chairs to sit on) and everyone brings something - the non-cooks usually bring cheese, wine, or dessert. Arguably the most important elements to any meal. Given that this dinner would most likely be washed down with a healthy dose of pre-halloween candy, I thought I would offer something healthy to start. It was a hit. I believe a spoon was even used at one point when our provider of crackers and crudité arrived fashionably late. Muhammara Serves: 2 cups Ingredients 3 red bell peppers, roasted 1 cup walnuts ½ cup tomato paste juice of 1 lemon 2 tbl honey 3/4 cup water 1 tsp cayenne 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper Print Preparation Toast the walnuts and let cool. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Puree and taste for seasoning. Serve at room temp with pita or fresh veggies - anything that can carry a nice big scoop to your mouth! Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Potato Pizza I love the snackiness of this pizza. It feels elevated without being fussy and with steps that can all be done in advance it can come together easily within your schedule. Potato Pizza Serves: 1 13"x17" pizza Ingredients pizza dough: 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose or bread flour 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) instant or active dry yeast 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar 2/3 cups (150 grams) room temperature water 4 teaspoons fine sea or table salt 6 to 8 (1 kilo) small to medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled 1 medium yellow onion, diced 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil About 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves Print Preparation pizza dough: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until well blended, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Continue on with making pizza or put dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. In a medium bowl, combine the 1 quart lukewarm water with salt, stirring until the salt has dissolved. Use a mandoline or your best sharpest knife to slice the potatoes very thin (1/16 inch thick), and put the sliced directly into the salted water, which prevents oxidation and also helps soften them so they cook up nicely. Lahey says to let them soak for 1 1/2 hours or up to 12 in the fridge overnight, but I was quite happy with my results after a 25 to 30 minute soak. Heat your oven to 500°F with a rack in the center. Brush either 1 13×18-inch rimmed half-sheet pan or 2 9×13-inch quarter-sheet pans (shown) with olive oil. Divide your risen dough in half and use your fingertips, oiled or dusted with flour, to pull, stretch, nudge and press the dough across the bottom of the pan. The dough will be thin and imperfect. If holes form, just pinch them together. It’s all going to work out, promise. Drain the potatoes in a colander and use your hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry on paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss the potato slices with the onion, pepper, and olive oil. Spread this potato mixture over your dough, going all the way to the edges so that there’s no uncovered edge; put a bit more topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook more quickly. Sprinkle evenly with rosemary. Usually the salt the potatoes were soaked in is enough, but you can sprinkle more on if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is nicely bronzed underneath. Serve pizza hot or at room temperature. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Chocolate Swirl Meringues Meringue has gotten a bad rap for being unnecessarily complicated to make, something only French pastry masters would dare to attempt, and the ones you often find in stores taste like chalk. These meringues will convince you otherwise. The swirls of chocolate are not only beautiful but they also help make these meringues super moist and just a little bit decadent. Chocolate Swirl Meringues Serves: 8-10 meringues Ingredients 3 egg whites 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp white vinegar 2 tbl espresso (optional) 2 ½ oz dark chocolate Print Preparation Preheat oven to 250˚F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Once melted, add the espresso and remove from heat. Put egg whites into bowl of electric stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed until frothy. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar, then vanilla and vinegar. Whisk until stiff peaks form and the meringue looks glossy (about 2 minutes). Fold in melted chocolate – do not mix too much so you keep those beautiful swirls. Spoon golf ball-sized dollops onto prepared baking sheets. Put the meringues into the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 225˚F. Bake for 1 hour or until meringues no longer stick to parchment. Turn the oven off and leave meringues in another 20 minutes then let them cool on a wire rack. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Mushroom Farro As cooler weather approaches, I start to get excited about all of the delicious foods of fall. I started making this four or five years ago from a recipe by Tyler Florence. It has morphed many times over the years as a certain sister had it on request repeat - but I never seemed to have the recipe, or all the ingredients i needed (I have since figured out that organization and planning can be quite helpful when cooking). It was really this recipe (or lack thereof) that taught me how to experiment and improvise with what I had, and making that part of the fun of being in a kitchen. I finally taught my (slightly kitchen-averse) sister, Lauren, how to make this and I think she saw that something so tasty was also easy to make. She has been a cookin' fiend ever since and has taught me a thing or two recently! Lauren introduced me to farro pasta, which so is amazing, I dont think I will ever make whole wheat pasta again. I was making it recently for the two of us, when she swooped in and suggested caramelizing some diced onion, mixing the pesto into that, perhaps tossing in some tomatoes, and then adding the cooked farro. Let me tell you, it was so good I have made it three times since then (then being about a month ago). I find this dish much more interesting than your average risotto because the farro retains its nutty texture and compliments the rich creaminess of the mushrooms...this is a particular favorite of mine, if you hadn't noticed. I love using a few different kinds of mushrooms, but feel free to do your own thing. With the stems of the mushrooms you can make a simple mushroom stock that will really enhance the flavor and shroominess of the dish. The longer this simmers, the more concentrated the flavor will be, but any amount of time is better than nothing. To make the stock: heat up a large pot, toss the stems in (and onions if you have them on hand), and brown slightly. Fill the pot with at least 10 cups of water and let boil away for as long as possible, strain when ready to use. Farro is an ancient cousin of wheat that is usually sold in its “semi-pearled” state, meaning some of the bran has been removed during an abrasive polishing process. It should be relatively easy to find, but if you have trouble, here are some excellent substitutions (just make sure you look at the packaging for cooking time – they all work, you just need to plan accordingly): Barley: like farro is has a nice nutty flavor as well as being a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and is a heart-healthy soluble fiber. It comes in three forms: whole kernels (40-50min), hull-less (35-40), and pearled (30min). Wheat Berries: whole kernels of wheat that vary in type (hard, soft, winter, spring, red, and white) but taste pretty much the same. They take 50-60min to cook and will always remain slightly chewy. Mushroom Farro Serves: serves 4-6 Ingredients 2-3 shallots 2 tbl fresh thyme 1 lb mushrooms ½ cup white wine 8-10 cups stock or water 2 cups farro Print Preparation Dice the shallots and remove thyme leaves from stem (this can be quite labor intensive so an alternative would be to tie the thyme with cooking twine and to remove at the end – don’t just throw the time in or you will have little twigs on your dinner plate). Clean and slice the mushrooms. Heat some oil in a large sauté pan (with straight sides), add in the shallots and thyme, and season with salt to get the shallots sweating. Once shallots are translucent, about 5 minutes, add in the mushrooms and cook until they have released their moisture, about 10 minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, then stir in the farro. Start adding your liquid, 2 cups at a time, stirring often, and when most of the liquid has been absorbed, add in the next 2 cups. After about 30 minutes you want to decrease each liquid addition to 1 cup and before you pour it in, taste the farro for doneness. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Caramelized Onion Dip Onion Dip Throwdown. This is the sort of thing that happens in my family. Ok really just between my Mom and myself, this time I was trying to revamp her (slightly retro) onion dip made from Lipton's onion soup spice mix. Yes, we are slightly competitive. But since we were the only ones around yesterday to do the taste-testing and judging (and we both voted for our own) we will have to wait until Superbowl Sunday for the winner to be crowned. Stay tuned (I know you are all on the edge of your seats in anticipation). In the meantime, I will give you my recipe (I believe my Mom's can be found on the back of the spice packet). Prep Tip 1: if your cutting board moves around at all, place a damp paper towel or dish towel underneath it. Prep Tip 2: having worked alongside the prep guys at Locanda, I learned to work by task and not by vegetable - meaning peel and remove the stems of all the onions (or other vegetable), then move on to slicing all of them. What I like about this method is that it allows you to keep a tidy work area. I used more greek yogurt than sour cream because I prefer the taste (and like when I can go ham on the dip and not feel too bad about it), but feel free to adjust the ratio to your liking. Caramelized Onion Dip Serves: 1 party dip (serves 10ish) Ingredients 2 pounds large yellow or white onions (2-3 large onions) 4 shallots fresh thyme olive oil 1 cup white wine 2 cups plain greek yogurt 1/4 cup sour cream 2 tsp onion powder salt and pepper fresh chives, minced Print Preparation Preheat oven to 450°. Slice onions and shallots thinly and spread out on a sheet pan or roasting pan with some sprigs of thyme. Drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat, and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately pour the white wine into the pan, scrapping up anything stuck to the bottom. Roast another 15 minutes. Cool completely and remove the thyme. Place onions in a food processor and pulse to chop finely (you can also do this the old fashion way with a knife). Mix together yogurt, sour cream and onion powder. Stir in onions. Season with salt and pepper. This can be made a few days in advance. When ready to serve, garnish with fresh chives. Previous Next hungry for more?

< Back Organizing Your Spice Cabinet I run a pretty tight ship when it comes to kitchen organization but the spice cabinet was my dirty little secret. I blame some of the disfunction on the cabinet itself but the truth is I moved this mess from my old apartment. I bought those adorable little jars thinking they would magically beautify my cabinet and keep themselves tidy but soon realized they only add to the chaos by forcing you to either buy extra (which you have to store somewhere) or go out and buy more every time you add to your spices . These ones in particular were not even big enough to fit the standard spice jar amount of 3oz – so it was just complete and utter failure. It is stressing me out just thinking about how it was. I have needed to do this for a long time and I hope to inspire anyone else who has been avoiding it too. My method is nothing revolutionary which I hope makes it easier to jump in and just get organized – i mean all you need are some labels and a marker. SPICE ORGANIZATION GUIDELINES ASSESS YOUR STOCK Take all of your spices out of the cabinet and determine what (if anything) needs to be thrown out. There are varying opinions on the exact shelf life of spices – if you are talking about safety its up to 4 years but if you want them to have flavor its more like every 12 months. To help keep them fresh always close the top fully for an airtight seal, make sure the spoon you dip into a spice bottle is dry and never pour directly from the container over a steaming pot – basically moisture is the enemy here so act accordingly. MAKE A PLAN First think about the space: is it a tall or deep cabinet? Is it high up? Unless it is a space specifically designed for spices, you will likely need an organizing aid (stacking shelves, a lazy susan, etc). I went with a tiered exapndo-shelf but use what works with your space. Second think about how to organize – alphabetical? frequency of use? Alphabetical is great is you can see all of the labels at once and can easily return the spice to its proper place. I am going with frequency of use until I have my perfectly made custom cabinet. LABEL IT The only way I am going to realistically label every spice as it goes into the cabinet is to make labels part of the organizational strategy (and ocd aesthetic) but more importantly to keep a stash of labels and a sharpie right there in the cabinet. I know myself and in that 3 seconds it takes to find the marker, I will have moved on to something else. I used packaging labels (2×2¾” to be exact). KEEP INVENTORY It can be quite useful to keep a list of the spices you have if you can’t see them all at once – and so other, less orderly folks wont go rummaging through your spices to find the one in the way back. And when you are out of a spice, make a note so you remember for your next grocery run. Previous Next

< all recipes Roasted Sesame Green Bean Salad Our first few meals in Myanmar were uninspired, to say the least; the first problem being that we were the only people in the dining room…literally. The second was the completely western menu. I ended up getting some sort of fish steamed in foil and presented on the plate, in the foil, with no sauce or sides. Not exactly what we traveled over 8,000 miles to eat. You can thus imagine the awkwardness when the chef came out to see how we liked the meal, and after we gave some rave reviews she continued to stand there smiling as if waiting for more praise. Our last lunch at Inle Lake, however, was traditional Myanmar food and, not surprisingly, was spectacular. I ordered steamed spring onions that were combined with ground rice to make something similar to a tamale. We ended up just sharing everything we ordered and my favorite dish was the green bean salad with sesame seeds. I set about recreating it as soon as I got home, with a few alterations: the original was quite oily so I reduced the oil and used toasted sesame oil for an extra punch of flavor, and I went with sliced almonds instead of ground peanuts for a crunchier texture (feel free to try peanuts if you like). Roasted Sesame Green Bean Salad Serves: 4 side servings Ingredients 16oz green beans, cut into ½” segments (about the size of the edamame) 8oz edamame (i usually buy frozen) 2-3 tbl toasted sesame oil 2 tbl fish sauce ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup white sesame seeds ¼ cup black sesame seeds ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted salt and pepper Print Preparation Blanch the green beans – Get a pot of water boiling and prepare a bowl with plenty of ice and cold water. Add the green beans and edamame to the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, strain and immediately add to the ice water. Let sit for a few minutes and then strain. Heat up a tbl or two of sesame oil in a large sauté pan. Add edamame and green beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely charred (about 10 minutes). Pour in the fish sauce and soy sauce, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan, and remove from heat. Combine beans with sesame seeds and almonds - add salt and pepper if necessary. This dish can be served hot or room temperature - but is also delicious cold a few days later! Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Apple Cake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting What I love most about this cake is that it is not overly sweet because there is not a ton of added sugar which allows the apples and maple to really shine. It is not the prettiest of finished cakes but it is so delicious - you could even just serve the icing as you would a dollop of whipped cream on the side to preserve the beauty of the actual cake. I like to sift onto a piece of parchment because I never seem to have a wide enough bowl to catch all of the flour and I end up with more flour on the counter than in the bowl. This is where you might feel like you have done something wrong (I know I did the first time around) but maintain your course. The batter will be extremely dry, and slightly gummy, but remember that you have all those apples that will release their moisture while baking. Again, this will seem a bit strange, but mix one scoop of egg whites into batter first as a kind of sacrifice to lighten it up. Then gently fold the next addition into the batter maintaining as much air as possible. Apple Cake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting Serves: 1 9" cake Ingredients ½ cup golden raisins ½ cup water 2¼ cups all-purpose flour ½ tsp kosher salt ½ tsp baking powder 1¼ tsp baking soda ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ cup olive oil ½ cup granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼inch chunks 2 egg whites FOR THE FROSTING 4 oz (1 stick) butter, at room temperature 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature 6 tbl maple syrup ½ cup sugar in the raw (aka demerara sugar) Print Preparation Preheat oven to 350˚F, grease a 9” cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Bring the ½ cup of water to a boil, pour over raisins, and let sit. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon together. In a separate bowl, whisk olive oil and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until emulsified (only about 30seconds). Drain any excess water from raisins and add to the egg/sugar mixture along with the apples (switch to a spatula here). Mix in the dry ingredients in two batches, mix just until everything is moistened – the batter will be every thick. Beat two egg whites to soft peak consistency (so when you remove the whisk and hold it upside down, the whites droop slightly). Fold into the batter in two additions (this will seem strange but fold gently to maintain as much air as possible). Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown and the center springs back to the touch. Let cool completely. Make the icing: in a mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat butter, cream cheese, sugar in the raw, and maple syrup on med-hi speed until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Slice cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Place bottom half onto serving platter and spread half of the icing evenly over cake. Place other half on top and spread the rest of the icing over the cake and down the sides. Previous Next hungry for more?

< all recipes Pickled Red Onion Pickled Red Onion Serves: 1 pint Ingredients 1 red onion 1/2 cup white vinegar (white distilled, white wine, rice - whichever you have) 1/2 cup water 1 tbl salt 1 tsp sugar dash of balsamic vinegar (optional) Print Preparation Cut onion in half through the root. Slice as thinly as possible to make crescents. Put in a bowl and set aside. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil. Boil for a minute just to dissolve salt and sugar. Then pour over onion and let cool. Once cool put in a covered container and in the fridge for use any time. They keep up to about 6 weeks. Previous Next hungry for more?